For centuries, farmers have cut forage crops for animals, such as alfalfa, hay, tall grass, etc., using hand tools. A hand sickle having a semi-circular blade is still used in many parts of the world. With advancement in mechanized machinery, harvesting machines have now replaced hand tools, especially in the more industrialized countries. A harvesting machine can be towed behind a tractor or it can be a self propelled unit. Currently, a cut forage crop is deposited back onto the field in rows where it can be dried by the sun. The rows of crop, such as alfalfa, can be turned over once or twice during the drying process before the dried cut crop is picked up, chopped and blown into a storage wagon and/or taken to a silo for long term storage. The forage crop, especially alfalfa, is used as a feed crop for milking cows.
One major disadvantage with harvesting crops using a conventional haybine is that the weather must be dry for a few days or the farmer could lose a portion of his cut crop to mildew or mold while it is lying in the field. Farmers tend to listen to the weather forecast and if rain is imminent, they will not cut their crop until clear weather is forecast. This is especially true when harvesting alfalfa. If a farmer did cut his forage crop, and then it rained before his crop was fully dried by the sun, he would have to wait longer for his crop to dry. Worst case, the farmer could lose a portion of his crop to mildew and mold.
Now a harvesting machine has been invented which includes a moisture removal mechanism which can remove a large amount of the moisture present in the stems of the harvested crop. The moisture is removed by the harvesting machine immediately after the crop is cut and while the harvesting machine is still in the field. The harvesting machine also includes a crop converging mechanism, located behind the moisture removal mechanism, which gathers the low moisture content crop and directs it to a chopper where it can be chopped and blown into a storage wagon for direct transport to a silo for long term storage.
A header which can be attached to the front of a self-propelled unit or which can be attached to an existing chopper type machine is also taught.